Beast Appreciation Day!
by RisingStarlight
Summary: It's been almost a year since Bunsen the Beast has been friends with Mikey and living in Muckledunk! Everyone wants to celebrate this special day—except Bunsen! What will happen as the day gets nearer? Will this momentous occasion be celebrated anyway? Will Mikey do something extra-special for Bunsen? Or will Amanda get Bunsen kicked out of Muckledunk before the one-year mark?
1. Chapter 1

Welcome to chapter 1 of "Beast Appreciation Day!", my newest fanfiction for Bunsen is a Beast! Butch Hartman's most recent cartoon! I found this show to be pretty enjoyable! And I liked the main characters' dynamics.

I imagined that there would be some type of 30-minute special on Nickelodeon for it being a year that the show has gone by, and that's where this story came from. February 20th is the "Beast Appreciation Day" in the story because that is when the show first aired on television.

Enjoy!

~RisingStarlight

* * *

Chapter 1—The Big Day

"Come on, Mikey! Give me everything you've got!" Bunsen screamed.

"Alrighty, Bunsen, you asked for this!"

The red-headed boy rolled up his sleeves beneath his sweater-vest and cracked his knuckles. Then he brought himself right into Bunsen's face, where he peered into his yellow eyes for a good three seconds.

"Favorite food combination!" Mikey said with a smile. Then he counted off. "One, two, three!"

"Cheese with onions!"

The boy and the beast stared at each other with surprise, having said the same thing at the same time. They danced ecstatically in their seats, laughing madly. The other kids in the classroom stared at them like they were crazy.

"We did it again!" Mikey squealed. "That's 98 rounds in a row so far!"

"Now it's my turn!" Bunsen replied giddily.

The blue beast gave the red-headed boy a challenging glare as he said, "Mikey, there is no way we have the same favorite hobby! One, two, three!"

"Making sculptures out of toe jam!" they shouted, both pulling out brown and green sludgy lumps from their pockets.

Then they gasped and jumped up and down in their chairs again with even more vigor.

"How are we doing this?!" Mikey shouted.

"I know!" Bunsen replied. "It's like I'm reading your mind with one of my privacy-intruding tendrils to say the exact thing you're thinking!" When he said this, the showerhead-like device popped out from the hole in his head.

"Come on, Bunsen, this is it!" Mikey squealed. "Round 100 is for all the marbles—which also happens to be something we both love to collect!"

Mikey triumphantly raised a pointed finger skyward as he looked to Bunsen and shouted, "Favorite funny noise!"

They stared at each other in suspense. Then, in perfect sync, their hands slowly rose to their armpits, and they flapped their arms to make three loud farting noises.

They exploded into the loudest of cheers.

"Oh my gosh, Bunsen, we did it!" Mikey exclaimed. One hundred rounds of 'What Do We Have in Common!' We literally have everything in common!"

"Yeah!" Bunsen agreed, grinning widely. "Even things people find stinky, disgusting, and annoying about us!"

The two boys leapt from their desks into a friend hug, Bunsen's extra arms coming out to hug Mikey even tighter.

"I can't think of any better friends than the two of us, Bunsen!" Mikey cheered.

"You said it, Mikey!"

Their embrace was interrupted by the loud ringing of the first period bell. Mikey and Bunsen zoomed back to their desks.

Into the classroom came Ms. Flap in her pink blouse and purple skirt. The slightly kooky smile on her lipsticked face was especially large today.

"Hello, everyone!" she greeted. "Today I'd like to shout out a special student in our class today! He's funny and a little strange—and if our lives were all a part of a TV show, he'd be the main protagonist of whom the show is named after!"

"Ooh! Ooh!" Mikey yelled, eagerly waving his hand. "Are you talking about me, Ms. Flap?"

"No, Mikey," Ms. Flap answered, laughing. "You're much too kind and sweet to be a reality TV star!"

"Is it Jerk von Handsome?" Sophie Sanders asked, motioning with her thumb to the huge, muscular young man behind her taking selfies. He looked up from his cell phone mid kissy-face.

"Nope! I'm referring to Bunsen the Beast!"

The class cheered for the Bunsen, who grinned with with surprise. Mikey, of course, cheered the loudest for his friend.

Then came a certain spoiled mean girl, late as usual, inside the classroom, dressed in her typical schoolgirl outfit, Mary Janes, and blue hair bow. The bored frown on her face instantly became a smile as the students' cheers greeted her.

"Ooh, is this applause and praise for moi?" Amanda Killman asked, pleased.

"As if, Amanda! We're clapping for Bunsen!" Ms. Flap replied. Then she continued, "Why would we ever cheer for you? You're a rude, hateful girl who disrespects everyone she encounters and brings a cloud of anger with her wherever she goes!"

"I didn't ask for your input, you incompetent kook!" Amanda barked.

"See? That's exactly what I'm talking about."

The girl and the teacher squinted at each other before Amanda stomped over to her desk, growling. When she sat down, a physical cloud of anger manifested above her head and made Mikey, Bunsen, and the students sitting near her cough erratically.

"Bunsen," Ms. Flap continued excitedly, "today we acknowledge you because…it has been almost one whole year since you've attended Muckledunk Middle School and have been a part of the human world!"

"WHHAT?!" Mikey, Bunsen, and Amanda shouted.

The students erupted into cheers. Ms. Flap pulled out a kazoo to blow and spun noisemakers in her hands. Bunsen shout out a buttload of confetti from the hole in his head that rained down onto the whole room.

"Mikey, it's really true!" Bunsen said to the red-headed boy. "February 20th was my first day at Muckledunk Middle School when I first met you and we became friends!"

"Gosh, I can't believe it!" Mikey laughed. "Already, we've shared a whole year of fun, zany adventures! Time flies, man!"

"NO! THIS CAN'T BE!" Amanda screeched.

All the heads in the room turned to the girl, who looked like she had seen a ghost.

"I-If you've been here for one whole year," Amanda uttered, pointing a trembling finger at Bunsen, "then that means…I've failed to expel you from our town for almost a year now!"

Bunsen said nothing as he stared into Amanda's widened eyes. Then he smiled and answered, "Well, I guess that's another way to look at things!"

"Oh, thank you for reminding us of that, Amanda!" Ms. Flap said cheerily. "Everyone!" she announced, "It has also been one year that Amanda has been a failure at expelling Bunsen from our town!"

The class cheered once again, as Bunsen shot another load of confetti from his head.

Amanda scowled. To add insult to injury, her cloud of anger above her rained on her head.

"Bunsen!" Mikey shouted, eyes wide, "We need to do something big and special to celebrate your Beastiversary! Ooh—that's what we should call February 20th—your Beastiversary Day!"

"I like that, Mikey!" Ms. Flap replied. "Come on, class! Let's all sing the special Beastiversary song for Bunsen! And-a-one, two, three!"

The sixth-graders proceeded to confusedly sing various songs, all out of tune. After a while, their voices died out slowly.

Ms. Flap grimaced at the noise, then put on a sheepish smile. "Oh, I guess we should have thought of lyrics to the Beastiversary song before singing it…"

"There is no need to sing off-key for me, fellow classmates!" Bunsen announced, raising his hands. "In fact, there is no need for a Beastiversary day! I will simply be happy spending February 20th like I do any other day…"

The beast then extended an extra arm to reach Mikey in his desk across from him. He pulled Mikey towards him—along with his desk, which scraped noisily across the floor—into a one-armed hug, smushing the boy against his face.

"With my best pal, Mikey!"

"Wait. What?!" Mikey replied. "Bunsen, you don't want a big gesture made for celebrating a year you've been in Muckledunk?"

"Nope!" The blue beast said with a smile. "It is special that we have been friends for almost a year, but I do not see any point in making an effort to celebrate our best friendship on one specific day. Every day can be a Beastiversary day!"

The bell rang, marking the end of first period. The students all proceeded to flood out of the classroom. Bunsen released Mikey from his embrace, took his things, and followed the crowd of students. Mikey followed, appearing to look upset.

The room was void of children except for Amanda, who still sat scowling at her desk, sopping wet and covered in Bunsen confetti.

"I can't believe that beast has bested me and my plans to get rid of him for all this time!" she yelled, throwing a tantrum in her seat. "And now they're giving him a Beastiversary Day'," she mocked, using finger quotes, "What a stupid name for a holiday!"

She shook herself dry, then clenched her fists on her desk. "I cannot let a full year pass by that I have not expelled Bunsen from Muckledunk! I must devise a plan, something so evil and foolproof, it will cleanse our town of Bunsen once and for all!"

Amanda then banged her hands on her desk, stood up in her chair, then stood atop her desk triumphantly.

"I, Amanda Killman, vow that I will be rid of Bunsen the Beast by this Saturday, February 20th!"

Her cloud of anger appeared above her again, now a raging storm. The heavy gales blew her pigtails and skirt dramatically, and an evil smile grew on her face as a clap of thunder shook the classroom.

Ms. Flap yelled fearfully as the blowing winds reached her teacher's desk.

"Amanda, please leave!" she shouted. "The thunderstorm from your anger cloud is blowing all the papers off my desk!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2—The Plan

It was now lunchtime for the sixth-graders at Muckledunk Middle. Mikey and Bunsen were sitting at a table together and eating.

"Come on, Bunsen, at least let me _give_ you something for your Beastiversary!" Mikey coaxed. The red-headed boy then pulled out a smelly, mushy brown lump from his pocket that was crudely molded into the shape of a man wearing a top hat.

"How about one of my toe jam sculptures? This one I'm making of Abraham Lincoln is coming out quite nicely."

"I already said, Mikey," Bunsen began, crossing his arms, "I do not want any huge gestures made for me this Saturday. I don't like attracting attention to myself!"

Bunsen then shook up the bottle of soda he had with his lunch, yanked off his head, and threw it into the air. Then he flung the cap off the soda and poured it down the opening of his headless body, along with the plastic bottle. When the beast's head came down, the mouth in his stomach burped explosively, shaking the entire cafeteria and nearly blowing Mikey out of his seat.

"Riiiiiiight," Mikey replied, fixing his wind-swept hair. "But you know what? I've never heard of _not_ wanting people to fuss over you."

"It is actually a beast custom to celebrate important events with as much indifference as possible!" Bunsen explained. "On my parents' wedding anniversary, my mother and father did not acknowledge each other for the entire day!" he cheered. "And on my tenth birthday, my parents told me to stand in a corner to leave them alone! But that may have also been because I was on time-out for smashing a window."

"Aww, I just don't get it," Mikey said, putting his head in his hand. "I love it when people celebrate things for me!" Then the boy frowned. "I guess that's one thing we _don't_ have in common."

"Mikey, it's okay!" Bunsen sympathized. "We can just hang out at your house playing video games or watching TV! We don't need to have a huge fair because we've been friends for a year. That's a little extra, if you ask me," Bunsen added, with a wave of his hand.

"Nonsense!"

Mikey and Bunsen both froze. Their eyes fell to Mikey's backpack, which had just spoken.

"Uhh, Mikey…?" Bunsen said, yellow eyes wide, "Did your backpack just disagree with me?"

"I think so…"

They stared at each other fearfully before dropping their eyes to Mikey's backpack, which was now shaking vigorously. Mikey slowly brought his hand to the front zipper of his bag and opened it.

Leaping out came Darcy with a huge smile on her face.

"Hi, Mikey! Hi, Bunsen! Happy early Beastiversary day!"

The two boys screamed and fell out of their seats onto the floor.

"DARCY?!" they shouted simultaneously.

"Darcy—what are you doing in my backpack?!" Mikey yelled, clutching his heart.

"Principal Mom cancelled homeschool today!" she cheered. "So I snuck into your backpack while you were sleeping to come to school with you in the morning!" The purple-haired girl then sat down next to where Mikey was sitting and took a bite from his hamburger. "I can't believe you never noticed I was in there!"

Mikey glared seedily at Darcy as he lifted himself back into his seat. "No wonder my backpack was so heavy considering I didn't have any homework last night…"

"Anyway, I heard everything that happened earlier today!" Darcy said, pink eyes urgent. "And you can't let you Beastiversary Day pass you by, Bunsen! You've got to celebrate it!"

"As I said before, Darcy, it is a beast custom—"

"Forget this beast custom!" she retorted. Then she grabbed Mikey by his sweater-vest and Bunsen by his chest fur to yank them in close, smushing their faces against hers.

"Just think!" she said, eyes wide. "Almost 365 days ago, this beautifully wacky, star-cross'd friendship was born! It would be a shame not to commemorate this day!"

Darcy flung the two boys back into their seats and leapt onto the table. "We need to throw a huge party in your honor!" she exclaimed. "With carnival rides! And game booths!"

"Darcy—"

"And cotton candy! And bouncy castles—"

"Darcy—"

"And street performers!" she squealed, now jumping. "Especially those guys who can juggle flaming bowling pins while riding on unicycles! I love those guys!"

"No, Darcy!" Bunsen shouted, making Darcy freeze. "I have made it clear that I do not want anything special to happen this Saturday! Please respect my decision!"

"Yeah, Darce," Mikey added. "I'm not super happy about it either, but Bunsen doesn't want a special day this Saturday." Then he smiled slyly as he added, "Bunsen does, however, want a gift from me, though."

"Nope!"

"Dang it!"

Darcy looked at the two boys with disappointment, until her eyes widened and a disturbing smile stretched across her face. "Okay, Bunsen," she giggled, stepping back into Mikey's backpack and contorting herself to fit inside. "I promise you that you _won't_ have a special Beastiversary Day."

She zipped the bag shut and was out of sight. Mikey and Bunsen exchanged uncomfortable looks with one another.

"Well, that was creepy," Mikey said.

"And she sounded insincere!"

The two boys soon eased back into the rhythm of talking and eating. But watching them through a pair of binoculars was Amanda Killman.

"So, Bunsen's touchy about getting attention for the anniversary of his arrival to Muckledunk, huh?" Amanda said to herself. "Then this could be my chance to finally banish that beast by throwing him a _party_ so _pompous_ , he'll _pop_ a vein from dis _pleasure_!"

The spit that had flown out of her mouth as she talked made a puddle that dribbled down her chin.

"Ugh, too many 'p' words!" Amanda said, wiping the saliva from her face and braces.

Then her eyes fell on Mikey's backpack, and she smiled. "And it looks like that girl who's trespassing into our school can help me."

Amanda crouched and crept across the lunchroom to snag Mikey's backpack by his foot, then zipped back to where she had been lurking. She opened the front zipper and Darcy sprung out.

"Hello, girl who doesn't go to this school," Amanda greeted.

"Hello!" Darcy sang. "You're Amanda Killman, right?"

"The one and only," Amanda replied, plumping one of her blonde pigtails. "So, I hear you want to do something special for Bunsen on the anniversary of the day when he first interacted with the human world."

"Oh, my gosh, yes!" Darcy replied. "He and Mikey deserve to have something super-ultra-duper special done for them!

"Well, you're in luck! I want you to help me plan something huge for Bunsen and Mikey this Saturday!"

"Awesome!" Darcy cheered. But then she stopped and peered at Amanda with suspicion. "Wait a second, "she said, pointing an accusatory finger. "I thought you disliked Bunsen!"

"Dislike?" Amanda repeated, eyes mad. I lie awake at night dreaming of the day I can hurl him outside the city limits with my bare hands—"

She froze when she saw Darcy's horrified face.

"Uhh, I mean…I've had a spontaneous and complete change of heart from first period today and now I've dedicated my life to caring for Bunsen and…whatnot!" Amanda said with a large, crooked-toothed smile.

"…That sounds totally believable! Let's do this!"

The two girls shook hands.

Darcy squealed with glee. "Bunsen's gonna freak when he finds out what we're gonna do for him and Mikey!"

Amanda sneered to herself. "He most certainly will..."


End file.
